Never put your favorite wool hat in the dryer!
In May 2015, I received an email from Anna-Lena in Germany. Her boyfriend Peer had visited New York in 2011 and had a really great time here, of course. During his visit, he bought a hat for himself at the Union Square Holiday Market.
Peer & Anna-Lena of Australia
It wasn’t just any hat. It was a red, white, and blue wool mohawk hat, his favorite hat in the world! And he loved it. He wore it all the time back in Germany. By May 2015, it was time to give it a wash.
So Anna-Lena threw it in the washing machine, and then into the dryer. If you’ve ever done that with anything made of wool, you know what happened next. Barbie got a new mohawk hat.
Peer was devastated to see his shrunken hat. Anna-Lena felt terrible. So she went online and found this website. She sent me that email asking if I could please help her find the vendor who had sold the hat to them in the holiday market.
I contacted the good people at Urban Space NYC, the organization that manages the Union Square and Columbus Circle Holiday Markets, and now Bryant Park Winter Village, Urbanspace Vanderbilt, and many other market events in the city. Within minutes, they deduced that the hat vendor was Uzi from Litchi Accessories. We were able to connect Anna-Lina directly with Uzi.
“Uzi sent me the hat at the beginning of December, 2015, as soon as he had them in stock. So I had a good gift from Santa Claus! I wrapped it up and put it under the tree.”
She and Peer celebrated Christmas at her parents’ house, opening one gift after another. Finally, there was one big box left under the tree, but there was no name on it. Anna-Lena told Peer it was for him. He opened the big box and found a smaller box inside. And then another smaller box, and another. Finally, he found the gift itself: a brand new red, white, and blue wool mohawk hat!
“He was so surprised when he saw the hat!” said Lena. “His eyes opened wide and were full of happiness. I’ve never received such hugs and kisses before. He got back his favorite souvenir of New York. A new one, but still unforgettable.”
Stories like this make it so much fun to do what I do. Happy Holidays! (And Uzi is back at Union Square this season through December 24, 2016!)
~The End
Uzi, Anna-Lena, and The Hat!
Kisses for the perfect gift!
A Big Thumbs Up For NYC!